


The Heart Also Rises

by snarkasaurus



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Girlfriends/No Wives, M/M, Pining, abuse of sourdough bread as a plot device, mostly used as a reason to be apart, vague allusions to pandemic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:28:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28039221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarkasaurus/pseuds/snarkasaurus
Summary: In which there are nightmares, loaves of bread, drives, exhaustion, no filters, and expressions of love through food.
Relationships: Marwan Kenzari/Luca Marinelli
Comments: 10
Kudos: 45
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	The Heart Also Rises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mriaow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mriaow/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide! Hopefully this satisfies your love of pining-from-afar and friends-to-lovers! There are references to Covid in the sense that there's quarantine, but it's mostly as a plot device to get the boys together. There are also no partners here, so Luca lives in Rome and Marwan in The Hague (the cities in which they were born) for the purposes of our tale.

_You awake?_

Marwan blinked at the text before his eyes flicked to the time. 2:08am. _I am. Why are you?_

The reply came almost before he’d finished sending his own message: _nightmare._

One of the things that Luca had confided in Marwan one of the many times they were lying curled up together on set, waiting for shooting to start, resume, or whatever, was that he’d had nightmares since he was a small child. They were rarely about anything in particular, but they would awaken Luca from a dead sleep with pounding heart, sweat drenched clothing, and the absolute certainty that someone or something was about to end him. 

_What did you do today?_ On his own, Marwan had figured out that distracting Luca with mundanities worked better than almost anything else to help him shake the nightmare and get back to sleep. _I finally got my sourdough bread to work right._

 _You’re still trying that? I thought you gave up. I didn’t do anything special. Talked with my agent, scheduled more interviews, the usual. Bored._

Marwan frowned at the text. That nightmare must have rattled Luca badly. They’d talked last week about Marwan’s determination to get the forsaken sourdough to work—he _knew_ he could bake bread well. He’d been doing so for years. Sourdough defeated him, however, and he refused to let that stand—so that statement seemed incongruous. _Luca?_

 _I’m sorry, caro. That was a bad one._ There’s a long pause before another message comes through. Long enough that Marwan flips on his bedroom light and pushes himself upright in bed. This is not a “lay prone because I’m playing solitaire until I fall asleep,” conversation, he can tell. _Can I tell you about it?_

 _If you’re asking to call, you absolutely can._ His phone rang seconds later, and he answered it with a lurch of his heart. “Luca?” 

“Marwan.” The relief is almost palpable in the exhausted, cracked voice, and it makes his heart ache. “You...fuck.” Luca continues in a string of italian that Marwan can’t quite catch because it’s mumbled and too fast for him to hear clearly. “You’re okay.” 

Marwan’s skin prickles all over and his stomach rolls. “I need you to take a slow, deep breath for me, Luc.” He waited until he heard the shaky inhalation and the equally as shaky exhalation. “Another. And one more.” On the third one, the sound was easier, less shaky. “Better. I am absolutely fine, I promise you. I didn’t even burn myself on the oven today.” He’d done so three weeks ago, and he said it to make Luca laugh. 

It worked. The quiet chuckle did more to calm him and tell him that Luca would be all right than the steadier breathing did. 

"Can you tell me why hearing my voice helped you?" he asked quietly. 

Luca just breathed into the phone for a few long moments before he said, "I was dreaming about being on set. We were filming some stunt where you had to leap from a building. It was a set, so wires, crash pad, fake building, you know all of the things they do. Except as you got ready to make the jump, I realized you weren't wearing your wire. And then I realized there was no crash pad. And—" he cuts off with a choked sound. 

"Was the building much higher than it should have been?" Marwan prompted. He didn't want to harm Luca by making him relive his nightmare, but he sensed that the whole thing needed to be purged. 

He heard a slight rustling sound that he thought was Luca nodding his head. "It was." The words are agonized. Marwan's heart squeezes painfully at the tone. "You looked at me just before you started to run, flashed me that grin, and then took off. As you leapt, I knew you were going to die when you hit—" again Luca choked. He took a deep, shuddering breath, though, and said, "that's when I woke up. I...I'm sorry. I just needed to know you're okay." 

"As you can hear," and Marwan keeps his voice as gentle as he can because he can almost feel the pain coming from his friend, "I am here and I am laying in bed, not on the ground of a movie set."

Luca groaned, but the sound is less pained than it had been. "Not funny," he groused. 

Marwan chuckled. "No, but it broke the last of the nightmare's hold, didn't it?" 

"Yeah," and Luca sighed. "Thanks for letting me call you." 

"Always, Luc. I told you that." They'd gotten so close while filming that it hadn't even occurred to Marwan that he wouldn't maintain his friendship with Luca once they wrapped. He enjoyed their texted banter, the phone calls, the occasional shit talking over voice chat while they attempted to play some video game they were both terrible at. One of the things he told Luca, once the nightmares were revealed, was that he would always listen if Luca wanted to talk about them. He'd meant it. 

This time, he heard faint sounds and thought Luca may have scrubbed his hand over his face. "I know. This one...just rattled me, I guess." Luca sighed, but it sounded like a release of tension. "Talk to me? Tell me about your success today. What did you do differently?" 

Marwan knew the deflection for what it was, but also assumed that it came from a place of needing some normalcy or at least some distraction. "Well, I made rolls instead of trying for a single, large loaf because I wanted to try a couple of different techniques," and he went on to explain that he had experimented with different methods he'd found doing his research and he's realized he was overdoing it on the flour, so everything was too dry, and…

Soft, even breathing told him that Luca had fallen back asleep. Marwan chuckled as he glanced at the clock. Nearly 3:30 now. No wonder. "Good night, darling," he murmurs before hanging up the call. He stares down at the phone, noting a phone call of over an hour, and sighs. He's going to have to admit to being in love with Luca one day. Eventually.

~*~

Luca stared at his phone, willing it to go off. He hadn’t heard from Marwan in far longer than he’s comfortable with, and he’s had about enough of the little ball of anxiety that’s settled in the pit of his stomach because of it. He sighed; fine, he’ll be an adult. _Mar? You alright?_

He hoped for an immediate answer, but he didn't get one. He spent the rest of the evening fretting and wondering why he isn’t hearing from his friend. He sent another text before he went to bed that night, but his sleep was fitful. He kept imagining all the worst possible things from carbon monoxide leaks that slowly suffocated his friend to a rabid fan figuring out where Marwan lived and attacking him. By morning, when he still didn’t have a text, he’s wound tighter than Kiki on caffeine and ready to shake Marwan for making him feel like this. 

_Dude, are you okay?!_ he sent. He set his phone down on the counter and stepped into the shower to try and wake up. He had a video interview later in the morning, and he was going to have to figure out how to deal with the dark circles under his eyes. He was glaring at his closet nearly an hour later when his phone chimes: _Yeah? Why?_

Luca stared at his phone. That’s it? That’s all he gets? _Because I haven’t heard from you in over a week and you haven’t responded to any of my texts?_ He knew he sounded a bit bitter, but he couldn’t stop himself from hitting send. 

_Sorry. Busy as hell right now. Text you later!_

That text ate at Luca for the next several hours. That wasn’t like Marwan at all. Not even a little bit. He’s usually prompt and forthcoming and funny with his texts. And it’s isn’t like Luca needed Marwan to always respond to his texts or even constantly be reachable. 

Okay, so maybe that’s a little bit of a lie, if his current state is to be believed. 

But he stewed. He stewed on it all day, all night, into the next day. He stewed on it enough, convincing himself that he revealed his adoration for his best friend, and now Marwan was trying to figure out how to extricate himself. 

_help._ He gives in and texts Kiki because it’s the only person he can think of that won’t mock him in the process. 

_what up boo?_

He stared at his phone for a long moment, trying to decide how to phrase this. _Marwan didn’t text me for over a week, and then when he finally responded, it was short. He hasn’t messaged me since._

He stared at the three floating dots of Kiki’s “this user is typing a response” for so long that he thought he’d see it as an afterimage if he closed his eyes. _Kiki?_

_Please breathe. He’s not abandoning you. He’s probably literally busy. Was that all he said?_

Luca let out a deep sigh. And then did take a couple of slow, deep breaths. He figured that Kiki was probably right, and breathing deep won’t hurt him. Then… _I didn’t say anything about abandonment._

_you literally said he hasn’t messaged you in over a week. In luca-speak, that means you think he abandoned you. Why aren’t you talking to him about this? You’re a big boy._

_because he’s not responding to my texts?_ He had thought that part would be obvious. _How am I supposed to talk to him if he doesn’t respond?_

He was waiting for her next text—and he expected it to be a lot of yelling—when the doorbell rang. He frowned and peeked through the peephole. It’s...a delivery man? He looked down at his phone, trying to decide who would have sent him something. He didn’t order anything. Fuck it. He decided right then to throw caution to the wind, grabbed the mask he kept by the door, and once it was in place, opened the door. 

“Delivery for Marinelli?” the man offered a box. “Signature required, please.” 

For a moment, Luca considered slamming the door in his face. Unexpected signature required deliveries aren’t really a good thing, but something told him to take the box, sign the screen offered, and carry the box into the house. There wasn’t anything on the box that could tell him where it’s from, and now he was starting to get twitchy. 

_I just got a special delivery_ , he texts Kiki since she was the last person he spoke to and he wants there to be a record just in case this is some kind of strange trap. 

He paused. It’s possible that quarantine is getting to him. 

_Open it!_

With Kiki’s encouragement, Luca found it a little easier to carry the box—it’s actually kind of large and heavy? What is in here? he wonders—into the kitchen where he set it on the counter and went in search of something that he can use to open the tape. He wasn’t expecting a bread-y smell to rise up, a waft that immediately makes his mouth water. He saw an envelope sitting on top of what appeared to be several wrapped bundles and picked it up. This time, he recognized the handwriting as Marwan’s, and ripped the envelope a little in his haste to get it open. 

_Luc—I’ve been baking these and I need your help! Call me as soon as you get this, whatever time it is. —Mar_

Well. It’s definitely from Marwan. He was the only one that called Luca “Luc” with any consistency. He picked up his phone, ignoring Kiki’s demands to know what’s in the box, and called Marwan. 

“Luca? Are they there?” was the way that Marwan answers the phone, and he sounded so eager, so excited that Luca found himself snapping out of sheer stupid relief. 

“Mar, what the hell? You ignore me for over a week and then send me a box full of bread?!” Luca stared down at the loaves, and he can tell they’re all loaves of bread, even if the note hadn’t told him. He can feel their shape through their wrappings. 

“It wasn’t over a week!” Marwan protested. 

“It absolutely was. Look at your text log,” Luca muttered. “Nine days, then I texted you, you said you were busy, and then nothing. And now a _box_ full of _bread_.” 

There’s silence on the other end of the line while Marwan presumably did what Luca asked. And then, “Luc, I’m sorry. I didn’t even...I didn’t realize. When you texted yesterday, I was getting ready to brave shipping the box to you and was—” He cut off with an abrupt sigh. “I’m sorry.” 

All of the frustration, anger, and worry drained out of Luca, and he sighed, too. “It’s okay. I was just. I got worried.” 

There’s a long pause on the other end of the like that made Luca wonder if the call had dropped or if he said something stupid. Then, “You were worried?” Marwan asked very quietly. 

Luca blinked down at the loaves of bread. Had they stolen all of his friend’s intelligence? “Of course I was worried!” His tone was gentle, even if it’s dripping with disbelief. “You’re my best friend, Mar!” I love you. It’s normally something he’d say to Marwan; they aren’t shy about sharing their platonic affections. But he wasn’t at all sure he could keep the actual depth of the emotion he felt out of his voice, so he left it hanging in the air between them. 

“I’m sorry,” Marwan said, and sounded so contrite that Luca’s heart ached. 

“Just...try not to do that to me again?” he asked. And then, “Why did you send me a dozen loaves of bread?” 

The excitement in Marwan’s voice was enough to make Luca smile. “I told you I figured out the problem with sourdough, and then I realized just what I could do with it, and I got...a little carried away?” 

Luca looked at his counter. “A little.” 

“Jerk,” Marwan said with a laugh. “I want you to tell me which one you like best.” 

“Mar. Marwan. Even I cannot eat twelve loaves of bread!” Luca was appalled. He likes bread and can eat his weight in it, but this is overkill. 

“That’s why they’re small! And they freeze! Just cut a little bit off each one and then rewrap them and shove them in the freezer.” Marwan was probably bouncing with excitement, Luca decided. “I wrapped them in plastic and in paper to help protect them, so they should all be okay.” 

Luca was helpless in the face of such excitement, so he did exactly as he was told. They spent the next several hours on the phone, discussing the merits and failings of each loaf. He made sad noises when he tasted the chocolate and hazelnut, enough that he made Marwan ask, “What’s wrong with it?” in alarm. 

“It...I’m not sure? I want to like it. I do like it, but there’s something about it that doesn’t _quite_ work. I think you used too sweet of a chocolate.” He took another bite. “Or maybe not sweet enough?”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Marwan said with a laugh. “Those are two different things.” 

“I know, and I'm sorry, but I can’t decide if it’s too sweet or not sweet enough. It’s good, but it just. It doesn’t _quite_ work.” He laughed. “You’ll just have to keep trying.” 

The rosemary loaf needed a little less rosemary: “It smells like a pine tree, Marwan, how did you not notice?”

“I like rosemary!” Marwan protested. “It’s fresh and fragrant and tastes so good in bread.” He sounded peeved, though Luca wasn’t sure if it was because Luca didn’t like it or because he had to justify it. 

“It does,” Luca agreed. “But there’s such a thing of too much. It smells like I’m wandering through an alpine forest. And then it tastes like it.” Marwan grunted, but didn’t argue anymore. 

Luca’s favorite was the sun dried tomato loaf; it reminded him of his childhood in a way he can’t clearly articulate. He can tell Marwan’s pleased by that comparison, though, and suspected he was going to wind up with more of those loaves. 

By the time the call ended, it was night, later than he thought it would be. He saw Kiki’s text from hours before and then another just a few minutes later that told him that he needed to text her when he was done with Marwan. He decided that she deserved it since she’d fielded his panic. 

_It was bread. He sent me a dozen loaves of sourdough bread that he’d made._

Kiki didn’t text back before he went to sleep, but in the morning, there’s just one message: _You’re such a dummy._

~*~

Marwan wandered around his apartment, restless. He felt like he was waiting. For what, he had no earthly clue, but the feeling lurked. He had very carefully not ignored Luca again, and they had once again fallen into their familiar routine. He loved their routine. It was a touchpoint of the sanity of his day, and he had been careful not to lose it again. 

But now...he’s bored. He was _bored_. No, that’s not quite true. He wanted to be completely honest with himself at all times. He was restless because he missed Luca. He missed just existing with him, being friends, being together. 

He tried doing some work, but everything was at a standstill, and aside from some emails from his agent, a request for an interview from a magazine he’s never heard of, and some spam, there wasn’t much for him to do. Next, Marwan tried working out, but for all it felt good, his heart wasn’t in it, and he was left fighting for each rep. He gritted his teeth and finished, and then stood under the spray of the shower until it went cold, trying to soak the restlessness out of his bones. 

He realized he’s probably annoying the shit out of his friends with his twitchiness when he got a text from Charlize that said, _If you want to see him so badly, then *go*. Italy is out of lockdown. If you travel safely, carefully, you should be okay._

He gave her some baloney about not wanting to intrude, not wanting to create a dangerous situation. It wasn’t a lie. He didn’t want to be part of the spread, but he knew that there was a way to get there safely. He was also lying to himself. He wanted to go. He wanted to see Luca. 

Nile was next. _Get in a car. Go. You’re in Holland, not America. Take him more bread._ He knew that she saw right through him, but he just. He cannot. 

And then Luca texted him about missing when they would watch old movies and critique the overacting, he cracked. _I could come? Visit, I mean._

The response was rapid, startling Marwan. _There’s a flight in six hours or three flights tomorrow. Or you could drive. I’ll buy your plane ticket or pay for your gasoline._

“Luca, you…” Marwan stared at his phone. “You don’t have to do that.” He realized he said that out loud and muttered to himself. “I need a cat. Or a dog. Or a fish.” He texted Luca to protest the need for financial assistance, even though his stomach was doing flip flops. He found himself in his bedroom, starting to pull out clothing to pack. 

_I know I don’t. I want to. Fly or drive?_

Marwan elected to drive, feeling it the safer choice, and one he can do at his own pace as he needed to. By the time he made it to the border of Italy, fourteen hours after he started his drive, he wished that he’d taken the flight. Not counting stops, it should have been a seventeen-hour drive from his home in The Hague to Luca’s in Rome. 

What he hadn’t counted on was car accidents causing traffic jams, detours, closed roads with no clear way around, getting lost because GPS didn’t like mountains, and more than one border crossing that was backed up farther than it should have been. He kept Luca updated so that there were no surprises, but he was absolutely exhausted by the time he pulled to a stop in Luca’s driveway. 

Marwan sat in his car for a few long moments, engine off, just breathing. It had been such a long drive. He’s six hours later than he intended. He feels sticky and grimy and just _tired_ The very light tap on his window startled him, but it’s just Luca, giving him concerned looks. 

He pulled the handle on the door, pushing it fully open once Luca stepped out of the way, and pried himself out of the seat with a groan. “Hi,” he grumbled, stretching. 

Luca frowned. “You could have stopped. Gotten a hotel. You didn’t have to try and drive it all at once.” The moment Marwan stopped stretching, Luca hugged him, strong and tight. 

Marwan wrapped his arms around Luca in return and held on. This felt so _good_. Perfect in a way he never anticipated. He was far deeper than he thought. He pushed the thought aside and buried his face in Luca’s shoulder, just breathing in. Just existing. “Luc,” he sighed. They stood there like that for several long moments, Luca holding Marwan and gently rubbing his back, Marwan letting some of the tension of his drive drain out of him in his friend’s embrace. Eventually he sighed and let go. It was reluctant and he had a fleeting thought that Luca didn’t seem any more willing to let him go than he was to release Luca, but he chalked that up to exhaustion. 

“C’mon. Where’s your bag? Let’s get you inside,” Luca muttered, grabbing Marwan’s hand and dragging him toward the house once the suitcase was out of the car. The next several minutes passed by in a bit of a blurry haze as he was herded through the house to the guest room. “Do you need to eat anything?” 

“No, stopped a couple of hours ago. Just need...to not feel gross,” Marwan said, interrupted midway through by a yawn. 

“Then let’s get you showered and into bed,” said Luca. 

“Are you going to help?” Marwan asked. The minute the words were out of his mouth, he wanted to bite off his own tongue. He had no filter left at all, nothing to protect him from making an ass of himself in front of his best friend. 

Luca looked at him for a long moment, eyes curious, face impassive but not upset. “Do you need my help?” he finally asked. 

“Need? No,” Marwan said, his filter malfunctioning again. 

Luca gave him a tiny smile. “Do you _want_ me to help?” he asked, his voice very quiet. 

Marwan stares at him, trying to figure out how to answer. The answer is an aggressive, desperate _yes_ , but he cannot. Not without ruining their friendship. 

...right? 

Before he managed to get his words into a straight line, Luca started chuckling. “Mar, you just fell asleep on your feet for a few seconds. Go wash your face. I’ll turn down the bed for you and get you some water. Go to sleep and I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” 

Marwan cannot muster the frustration or sadness to be upset that the moment passed without him being able to do anything about it. Luca was right. He did fall asleep for just a moment or two, and he was going to fall if he tried to shower. He did as he was told, going into the bathroom and washing his face, neck, and hands. By the time he did that, he felt less disgusting. Enough to sleep, at any rate, and he was starting to think very longingly of the bed that looked very soft and comfortable and warm. 

“Here,” Luca said when Marwan came back into the bedroom. “Glass of water, eye mask if the morning light is too much, charger for your phone. Sleep, Mar.” 

Marwan grabbed Luca into another hug before he could leave, and buried his face in Luca’s neck. “Thanks,” he mumbled. “For understanding. For letting me visit. For...Thanks.” He couldn’t say what he meant. He didn’t have it—energy. Words. Anything—left. 

Luca kissed his cheek and returned the hug. “I think I should be thanking you for making that drive,” he teased. “But you’re welcome.” 

Once the door was closed, Marwan slid between the sheets and stretched out. His very last conscious thought was of how good Luca’s kiss felt on his skin.

~*~

Luca looked at the food on the table and frowned. Maybe he’d gone a little overboard, but he knew how much Marwan liked breakfast and he’d just driven all day and well into the night to come see Luca, so. It was the least he could do. Pastry, juice, coffee, some soft cheeses that he knew Marwan liked to spread on bread, some _bread_ —Marwan’s bread, in fact. He’d pulled one of the frozen loaves out and put it in the oven to warm—and fruit. He also had plenty of other things he could make if Marwan didn’t want any of this. 

He groaned to himself and shook his head. He was overthinking this. Marwan was his best friend. He loved Luca. He loved all of the different types of food that were on this table. It was fine. 

“Luca?” Marwan’s voice drifted down the hall, startling Luca a little. He hadn’t heard a door open. 

“Down here,” he called, and popped his door out of the kitchen to see Marwan in a pair of pajama pants riding low on his hips...and nothing else. _Fuck_. “Coffee?” 

“Please,” Marwan said, giving him that brilliant smile that made Luca’s heart throb. He padded toward Luca, who straightened as Marwan came into the room. “That bed is so comfortable. I slept so well.” 

“That was probably at least partly exhaustion,” Luca pointed out with a laugh, “but I know. I have the king size version in my room. I loved it so much that I got that one for the guest room.” They both laughed at that, and then Marwan noticed the table. 

“Luca, did you do this for me?” he asked, staring at the spread. He looked startled, which made Luca bite his lip. 

Maybe he had… Dammit. No. “I did,” he said, feeling weirdly brave and nervous all at the same time. “I know how much you enjoy breakfast and lingering over it, and I thought it was a good...reward?” He wrinkled his nose slightly. “I don’t have a better word, but I thought it was a good way to say thank you for that hellacious drive you made.” 

Marwan laughed and hugged Luca. It felt so good and warm. Luca wrapped his arms around Marwan and just held on for a little while, pressing his face into his friend’s shoulder. He tried very hard not to think about how good it felt to hug Marwan while he was shirtless, the way the smooth skin felt under his hands, the way he could feel muscles shifting slightly…

“That coffee smells so good, Luc, I’m sorry, but I have to have some,” Marwan said, breaking the hug abruptly. Luca was momentarily disoriented by it, and found himself bitterly disappointed that it was over. 

“No problem,” he said, chuckling to cover his discombobulation. “Right there, my friend, on the table, waiting for you.” He pointed to the insulated carafe. “Go ahead and get started, I’ll be right back.” He grinned and slipped out of the kitchen to go hide in his bedroom for a few minutes, to gather himself. 

He leaned against his dresser, letting his head hang down between his shoulders. He needed to get his shit together, and he needed to do it now. He was going to destroy his friendship with Marwan if he wasn’t careful. He took a few more deep breaths and straightened his spine, looking at himself in the mirror. “You’ve been doing this for months. Get your shit together,” he told himself and went back out to Marwan. 

“Is this my loaf?” was the greeting when he returned to the kitchen. “Is this one of the ones I sent you?” 

Luca blinked, and for a moment, wondered if he’d messed up. Then he saw the excitement on Marwan’s face and relaxed. “It is. I thought it would be a good addition to breakfast.” He smiled. “Was I right?” 

“You are. It’s delicious! I ate some of the bread I made, but I.” Marwan suddenly stopped and looked a little sheepish as he started to blush. 

Luca raised an eyebrow. “Mar, did you send me _all_ the loaves you made?” he asked. 

Marwan nodded slowly. “I did, and. I haven’t made much more except for.” He cleared his throat and Luca raised the other eyebrow. 

“Except for…” he prompted when Marwan didn’t continue. 

Marwan didn’t look up at him. “Except for more of the sun dried tomato bread,” he said quietly. 

Luca didn’t know what to think. He knew what he _wanted_ to think, what he wanted that to mean, but he didn’t know if that’s what was the truth. He carefully walked to the table and sat down in the chair next to Marwan’s. “Mar?” he asked quietly. “Why?” 

Marwan didn’t answer for a long moment. He fiddled with his fork, looking—what Luca could see—like he was having an internal debate with himself. He finally took a deep breath and looked up, pinning Luca with the most serious, intense look Luca had ever seen on Marwan’s face. “I was practicing because it was your favorite and I wanted to get it exactly right for you.” 

Luca’s heart flipped in his chest. He didn’t look away from Marwan. He was on the precipice of something, teetering on the edge of something big, something that’s going to change his life. He was desperately hoping it was— he stopped that thought and just _asked_. “Why? Because I’m your best friend? Or because of something else?” 

Marwan’s nostrils flared as he took a deep breath. “Because of something else.” His voice was rough, a little raspy, and it frizzled down Luca’s nerves. 

“Do you know why I made you breakfast?” he heard himself ask before he even registered the question was going to come out of his mouth. 

Marwan’s breath shuddered as he took another deep breath. “Why? Because I’m your best friend? Or because of something else?” he echoed Luca’s words back to him. The look in Marwan’s eyes made hope flare in Luca’s chest. 

“Something else,” Luca whispered. 

They stared at each other for several long, breathless moments. It was Marwan that moved first, slowly reaching over and picking up Luca’s hand. He cradled it in his own, like it was something precious he needed to cherish, and rubbed his thumb over Luca’s knuckles. 

“Mar?” Luca whispered again, this time a little hoarsely. “Be sure. Please be sure. I can’t take it if you—” he stopped because Marwan was shaking his head. 

“I’ve loved you for a while, Luc,” he said. “At first, I thought it was because I’d let Nicky and Joe get into my head, but then I realized...no, I loved _you_.” He raised Luca’s hand to his mouth and kissed Luca’s knuckles gently. “Please let me?” 

“Let you? Let you love me?” Luca blinked. “I’ve loved you about as long, I think. You’re my best friend, but I absolutely fell in love with you. I don’t know when I did. It just...happened. But I. I love you, too, Mar.” 

Marwan smiled. “I am very, very happy to hear that,” he said, “but no. Please let me kiss you.” 

Luca’s breath just stopped. He forgot how to breathe for one glorious, beautiful moment. “Yes,” he whispered. He watched as Marwan’s smile blossomed, almost painfully bright in his joy. He’d always wondered what it would be like to have that look settled on him. Now he knew. 

Marwan stood and using his hold on Luca’s hand, drew Luca to his feet and into his chest. “Before I kiss you,” he murmured as he wrapped his other arm around Luca’s waist and held him close, “I want you to know that I came here just to see you, to spend time with my dearest friend. I didn’t have any ulterior motives. I just wanted to be near you.” 

Luca curled a hand around Marwan’s neck, his thumb brushing gently over the bearded jaw he’d been missing so much. “Ulterior motives? I never thought you did. I just wanted you here with me, and I was…” he huffed a laugh. “I was ecstatic when you said you’d come.” 

Marwan’s smile was much smaller this time, but no less potent. “Good. I just wanted to be clear.” And then he covered Luca’s mouth with his own. 

The kiss was tender. It was gentle. It was soft and caressing and careful. It was also potent and full of leashed passion. Far too soon, Marwan lifted his head and rubbed his nose briefly against Luca’s. “I have wanted to do that for so long,” he whispered. 

“Good. I’ve wanted to give you _this_ kind of kiss for about a long,” and Luca hauled Marwan’s mouth to his and gave him a much deeper, much more demanding kiss of the kind he’d been dreaming of since they filmed scenes with Nicky and Joe kissing. He groaned when Marwan’s arms tightened around him, holding him closer, and when he moaned into Luca’s mouth, there was a sense of victory and complete _rightness_ that nearly stole his breath. 

“Luca,” Marwan whispered and dove back in for another kiss. They stayed entangled like that for who knew how long, trading kisses and smiles and quiet murmurs of affection. “We’re going to have to figure out a lot,” he murmured after another flurry of kisses. 

Luca sighed. “Yes, but I don’t particularly care, and I especially don’t care right _now_.” he opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by an extremely loud growl from Marwan’s stomach. He grinned at Marwan’s embarrassed face, and then his own stomach did the same thing. 

Marwan started laughing. “All right, how about if we eat some of this delicious looking breakfast you’ve prepared for so sweetly for me, and sort ourselves out while we do so?” 

Luca chuckled and stole one last kiss. “Ever the practical one, Mar,” he said, but he reluctantly released his--well, his friend, _always_ his friend, but now...now Marwan was so much more. Luca thrilled to that thought. “Sit and eat, my love.” 

“‘My love’.” Marwan’s smile was enough to make Luca’s heart ache. “That sounds perfect.” 

Luca’s smile was equally as wide and he picked up his coffee mug. “Here’s to sun dried tomato sourdough bread,” he said, offering a toast. 

“And eternally patient friends,” Marwan added. “I need to send Kiki and Charlize a fruit basket or something.” 

Luca paused. Then he grinned. “Let’s send them all a loaf of bread.”


End file.
